The National People's Congress, China's national legislature, concluded its annual session at the Great Hall of the People on Wednesday morning. It was attended by Leaders of the Communist Party of China and the state, NPC deputies and lawmakers.
The closing meeting was attended by 2,838 NPC deputies. Among them, 2,812 voted in favor of the government report; 2,793 voted in favor of the work report of the NPC Standing Committee and 2,606 voted in favor of the work report of both the Supreme People's Procuratorate and Supreme People's Court.
Lawmakers approved the General Provisions of the Civil Law, which marks the opening chapter of a long-awaited civil code that includes individual books regarding property, tort liability, contracts, marriage, and inheritance.
They also approved the decision on the quota and the methods of electing deputies coming from Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions to the 13th National People's Congress.
Lawmakers also approved the 2017 national economic and social development plan, as well as the 2017 central and local budget documents. The resignation of Xu Xianming, an NPC Standing Committee member, was also approved.
The end of the annual session was attended by China's top leaders, which includes President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, and Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli.
Chairman of the Standing Committee Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Yu Zhengsheng, first-ranked secretary of the Central Secretariat of the Communist Party of China Liu Yunshan, Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Wang Qishan were also present in the closing meeting.
Zhang Dejiang hailed the achievements made under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee in his closing remarks, with Xi Jinping as the core since the 18th CPC National Congress held in 2012. He called to maintain a high degree of consistency and uphold the authority of the CPC Central Committee with its unified centralized leadership.
When it comes to the General Provisions of the Civil Law, Zhang called for stepping up work on the books of the civil code to ensure that it has Chinese characteristics. It should also reflect the will of the people and the spirit of the time when it is enacted in 2020.
Zhan also called on NPC deputies, reminding them to perform their duties effectively, to always bear the people's wishes in mind, and to make new contributions to uphold, implement and develop the people's congress system.